The Invincible Raven
by NowAndGone
Summary: An Armored Core pilot sent on suicide mission. Kill Normals and MTs, simple. But the circumstances change when it is revealed that the pilot must also kill a Raven, the lethal mercenaries of the Armored Core series.
1. The Warnings

The day had begun, and the mission was the first thing that he had on mind. Alex hadn't slept at all the night before because of the warnings of the mission. He was warned that he might lose his life in the mission, one of the higher ranked members of the group saying he was being sent on a suicide mission. He sat anxiously in his Next, readying himself for the mission. He was soon dropped into the mission zone, ordered to kill several Muscle Tracers and Normals. That was simple, Alex had destroyed plenty of those, however, there was one other he was supposed to kill. A Next, but that didn't scare him either. The pilot of the Next was former Raven, and therefore, extremely deadly, and he had heard stories of the victories these mercenaries had, fearing even their name.

"Alex, are you ready?" a voice said on the communicator. It was the voice of his operator, Halsy. She had been his operator for quite sometime at this point. He felt her voice to be soothing whenever he was stressed out.

"Yeah, sure, I'm ready" he said, letting out a sigh.

"Alright, your targets are spread about the nearby area, but you should find them with relative ease" Halsy explained, "good luck."

Alex started his boosters and moved along the street he was on. He spotted his first target in about a minute after setting off. Before the MT had even noticed the presence of the Next, several rounds had been fired into its cockpit. It slumped over, shutting down from damage. The Next Alex was piloting was a lightweight AC, it wasn't well armored, but it was fast. The reverse-jointed legs made him even harder to hit while in the air. It was armed with a laser blade on its right arm, and it's other arm held a small Gatling gun that was loaded with bullets that pierced through Primal Armor, making it especially lethal against regular MTs. The right shoulder was equipped with a long-range rifle, loaded with same rounds as the Gatling gun. The AC looked like a one-winged bird, as some people had called it. It was a dark gray in color, it's weapons being a jet black.

Quick boosting around a corner, Alex found another MT, patrolling the opposite end of the street. The rifle on the back of the Next flipped forward, and Alex's AC remained in place. As the MT began to turn toward the side of the street Alex was on, a round was fired though it. The machine soon exploded, leaving a tiny crater where it had been standing. Moving along the street, Alex found a Normal approaching the location of the MT.

"Damn, it must have noticed the MTs go offline" Alex muttered to himself.

The Normal was a quadruped, and it had several missile pods equipped onto itself. As soon as the Normal saw Alex's Next, the missile pods had opened, ready to fire. Alex charged forward, swinging his laser blade at the Normal's head, cutting off all of it's main sensors. Raising the Gatling gun to the core of the Normal, Alex opened fired, completely decimating the cockpit, and destroying the pilot entirely. Alex let out a sigh of relief and continued searching for the remaining MTs and Normals.

Before a minute had passed, Alex had noticed several targets approaching his position on radar. A large group of MTs soon round the corner and immediately opened fire on him. He quick boosted away from their fire, the Primal Armor taking most of the bullets fired at him. He boost around a corner, their fire flying straight past him. The MTs began to walk toward him. As they got close to his position, he boosted from around the corner, firing off bothy the Gatling gun and his rifle. Only one MT remained from the surprise attack and Alex swung his laser blade down onto it. It was split in two, and began sparking, about to explode. Alex quick boosted away from the MT watching it go off leave pieces of metal strewn across the street.

Alex was down to two more targets according to his radar. He let out a sigh of relief at this discovery.

"Alex, don't forget that one of these last targets could possibly be a Next, or even worse, a Raven" Alssya said over the communicator.

This made Alex's heart sink, remembering.

"Yeah, I know, don't worry, I'll be fine" he said, trying not to sound scared. However, there was a distinct sense of fear in his words.

He was soon at another target. It was a Normal, this one a bipedal. It had two laser blades equipped, and what looked like two long-range rifles on its shoulders. Alex fired several rounds into the legs of the Normal, unbalancing it, and even sending it down onto the ground. Quick boosting forward, he brought the leg of his AC onto the head of the core. He sent the laser blade through the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly. He looked at the last target on radar, just ahead of him. He activated overboost, the sound of the boosters charging becoming steadily louder. He was launched forward, closing the distance between him and the target. As he approached, he stopped, arming his rifle. From this distance, it looked like a Next.

The Next was Crimson, with white stripes across its arms and legs. One arm was a rifle, and the other was a heavy machine gun. It's legs were normal bipedal ones, but it's upper body was hardly armored. The only place that had a decent amount of armor was the Core, but that was understandable. Alex was confused why somebody would leave their AC so unarmored. He spotted small missile packs on the shoulders and an Exceed Orbit unit where Overboost was in his Next. But then he spotted it. The AC had a Raven painted onto the shoulder, it was completely black, but stood out amongst the crimson.

"So, are you going to shoot, or just stare?" a voice sounded over the communicator.

The voice was cocky and snide. A laugh was heard over the communicator.

"Come on, I'm ready for a good fight" the Raven said, his AC turning toward Alex's.

Alex fired a round at the Raven. It quick boosted away from the bullet, but it had taken a small part of the AC's Primal Armor away. Soon the Next was firing rifle rounds at Alex, causing him to quick boost trying to avoid them. He was firing his Gatling gun back at the Raven, his bullets barely missing the Raven as it continuously boosted away from his fire.


	2. The Final Bout

The Raven seemed to dance around with his quick boost, carelessly dodging the bullet from the Gatling gun. Soon an unfamiliar click noise came from the gun.

"What the, EMPTY!?" Alex said, pulling the trigger.

He dropped the gun, it landing heavily in the grass, leaving a deep imprint. He equipped the rifle, the reticule popping up in his cockpit. He followed the Raven's armored core, preparing to fire. As the Raven turned to quick boost again, he fired, the bullet piercing the AC's left leg. It stopped leaving itself completely open to attack while it struggled to regain position. Alex quick boosted forward, reaching him shortly. He swung the laser blade at the Next, just barely cutting its shoulder missile pods. As he did, the Raven boosted forward, clashing him with him. They were sent forward, Alex's Next sent off-balance and crashing into the trees.

"Fuck...smart move" Alex muttered, maneuvering the controls to get his AC off the ground.

He spotted the the Next had finally corrected itself and was standing straight up with its weapons raised in Alex's direction. He opened fire on Alex, sending bullet flying through his Primal Armor. Alex quickly overboosted away, his AP sent down to 75 percent. He pulled the rifle forward, aiming at the Raven, who was charging him again. he fired, and it dodged to the side, the bullet tearing the arm off his Next.

"Hah, good move kid, but you're now open" the Raven spoke over the communicator.

Alex didn't have time to avoid it. The Raven fired several rifle rounds into the side of Alex's next, sending his AP down to 45 percent. His AC fell over again, crashing onto the ground. Alex forced it onto its back, looking up at the Raven who had leaped upward and was coming down onto Alex. He lifted his Next's leg, stopping it in midair. He dropped his leg, sending the Raven's Next onto the ground. Alex quickly maneuvered his AC upward, engaging his laser blade, and slammed it into the Raven's shoulder joint, cutting off it's arm.

Before Alex could send the blade through the cockpit and effectively killing the pilot, the missile pods opened, and fired, allowing barely enough time to block with an arm. The AC's arm was totaled, hanging uselessly now.

"Damn kid, you nearly got me there, good job" the Raven said, "you're a quick thinker, and that's good, you might actually live through this fight."

Alex allowed the Raven to rise and watched as it disengaged its armor, dropping it into the nearby landscape. Alex disengaged his, leaving both their ACs basically useless. He also tore off the useless arm on his AC, leaving it on the ground.

"So kid, ready for the final bout?" he asked, the orbital pods on the Next's back lifting into the air.

"Sure, sounds fun" Alex said, activating his laser blade.

The Raven fired, Alex quick boosting away from the blast as they continued to be fired at him. He got close to the AC, cutting one of the Orbital pods and sending it into the ground. He then kicked in the AC's knees, unbalancing the Raven's Next. It fell, leaving a large crater. Alex forced his boosters upward, ready to drop with the laser blade through the cockpit. The Raven launched his missiles, each one crashing into the core of Alex's AC. He was killed in the blast, and his AC fell just next to the Raven's.

"Good job kid, you fought well, it was fun" he said, grinning.

The Next was pushed off the Raven's and eventually, the Raven's got his lifted. The cockpit opened and a man stood in the opening. He had short brown hair that was messy at the moment and he was wearing a simple undershirt and jeans. he had blood coming from his mouth and was holding his ribs. He looked down on the dead Next. He gave a half-hearted salute and went back into his cockpit, preparing to have himself extracted.


End file.
